Windows on Europe Film Festival

Canberra, 5 February 2010

Speech by John Richards, Counsellor,
Delegation of the European Union

Your Excellencies, Distinguished Guests

It is a great pleasure to welcome you to the 2010 Windows on Europe film festival. This is the fifth year of the festival here in Canberra . When my father was a small boy in Shropshire, every major event in the county was opened by the somewhat elderly Dowager Countess of Bradford . While I am not quite at that stage of life yet, I feel I must be getting closer because this is the third year I have had the pleasure of opening the festival.

The success of the festival in Canberra in previous years encouraged Dendy Cinemas to stage it last year, very successfully, in Sydney and Brisbane as well. That went so well that this year the festival venues will include, not just Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane, but also Melbourne and Auckland.

This festival could only happen with the help of Dendy Cinemas, and I should like to extend a huge vote of thanks to Dendy, and in particular to Aimee Broderick here in Canberra. Dendy's generous support has allowed us to present the festival in state of the art venues in Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane.

Finally, I should also like to thank very much my colleagues from the Member States who are here tonight in force. Without your help and cooperation, this event would not be possible at all.

The European Union itself is of course a prime example of multiculturalism. With nearly 500 million citizens in 27 Member States from the Atlantic to the Black Sea and from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, Europe is home to a real diversity of culture, represented by its many different languages, religions and ethnic backgrounds.

The seventeen films in this year's festival are a celebration of the richness of European cinema, an ideal way of portraying that diversity.

The films on show in the coming weeks have won numerous awards at various Film Festivals across Europe. They include drama, comedy, action, romance, and, documentary films. In short there is something for everyone.

Of course, in Canberra the Windows on Europe film festival is part of EU's contribution to the National Multicultural Festival.

And here I should like to mention that tomorrow, we are again holding our Europe Street event in Ainslie Place in Civic. Information stands of the Delegation and EU Member States will allow visitors to the Multicultural Festival a flavour of the great things Europe has to offer. I hope you will have the chance to visit us there as well.

Tonight, Spain, as the presidency of the European Union in Brussels, has provided our opening film, Hector. To say a few words about the film I have great pleasure in introducing my colleague and friend, the Deputy Head of the Embassy of Spain, Salvador Maspoch.

I wish you a very enjoyable evening.

Salvador, over to you . . .

This page updated February 10, 2010